Stijn van Dongen

miRBase: tools for microRNA genomics

miRBase is the central online repository for microRNA (miRNA) nomenclature, sequence data, annotation and target prediction. The current release (10.0) contains 5071 miRNA loci from 58 species, expressing 5922 distinct mature miRNA sequences: a growth of over 2000 sequences in the past 2 years. miRBase provides a range of data to facilitate studies of miRNA genomics: all miRNAs are mapped to their genomic coordinates. Clusters of miRNA sequences in the genome are highlighted, and can be defined and retrieved with any inter-miRNA distance. The overlap of miRNA sequences with annotated transcripts, both protein- and non-coding, are described. Finally, graphical views of the locations of a wide range of genomic features in model organisms allow for the first time the prediction of the likely boundaries of many miRNA primary transcripts. miRBase is available at http://microrna.sanger.ac.uk/.

miRBase: microRNA sequences, targets and gene nomenclature

The miRBase database aims to provide integrated interfaces to comprehensive microRNA sequence data, annotation and predicted gene targets. miRBase takes over functionality from the microRNA Registry and fulfils three main roles: the miRBase Registry acts as an independent arbiter of microRNA gene nomenclature, assigning names prior to publication of novel miRNA sequences. miRBase Sequences is the primary online repository for miRNA sequence data and annotation. miRBase Targets is a comprehensive new database of predicted miRNA target genes. miRBase is available at .

An ENU-induced mutation of miR-96 associated with progressive hearing loss in mice

Progressive hearing loss is common in the human population, but little is known about the molecular basis. We report a new N-ethyl-N-nitrosurea (ENU)-induced mouse mutant, diminuendo, with a single base change in the seed region of Mirn96. Heterozygotes show progressive loss of hearing and hair cell anomalies, whereas homozygotes have no cochlear responses. Most microRNAs are believed to downregulate target genes by binding to specific sites on their mRNAs, so mutation of the seed should lead to target gene upregulation. Microarray analysis revealed 96 transcripts with significantly altered expression in homozygotes; notably, Slc26a5, Ocm, Gfi1, Ptprq and Pitpnm1 were downregulated. Hypergeometric P-value analysis showed that hundreds of genes were upregulated in mutants. Different genes, with target sites complementary to the mutant seed, were downregulated. This is the first microRNA found associated with deafness, and diminuendo represents a model for understanding and potentially moderating progressive hair cell degeneration in hearing loss more generally.

Detecting microRNA binding and siRNA off-target effects from expression data.

Sylamer is a method for detecting microRNA target and small interfering RNA off-target signals in 3′ untranslated regions from a ranked gene list, sorted from upregulated to downregulated, after a microRNA perturbation or RNA interference experiment. The output is a landscape plot that tracks occurrence biases using hypergeometric P-values for all words across the gene ranking. We demonstrated the utility, speed and accuracy of this approach on several datasets.

Construction, Visualisation, and Clustering of Transcription Networks from Microarray Expression Data

Network analysis transcends conventional pairwise approaches to data analysis as the context of components in a network graph can be taken into account. Such approaches are increasingly being applied to genomics data, where functional linkages are used to connect genes or proteins. However, while microarray gene expression datasets are now abundant and of high quality, few approaches have been developed for analysis of such data in a network context. We present a novel approach for 3-D visualisation and analysis of transcriptional networks generated from microarray data. These networks consist of nodes representing transcripts connected by virtue of their expression profile similarity across multiple conditions. Analysing genome-wide gene transcription across 61 mouse tissues, we describe the unusual topography of the large and highly structured networks produced, and demonstrate how they can be used to visualise, cluster, and mine large datasets. This approach is fast, intuitive, and versatile, and allows the identification of biological relationships that may be missed by conventional analysis techniques. This work has been implemented in a freely available open-source application named BioLayout Express 3D.

Targeted Deletion of MicroRNA-22 Promotes Stress-Induced Cardiac Dilation and Contractile Dysfunction

Background— Delineating the role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the posttranscriptional gene regulation offers new insights into how the heart adapts to pathological stress. We developed a knockout of miR-22 in mice and investigated its function in the heart. Methods and Results— Here, we show that miR-22–deficient mice are impaired in inotropic and lusitropic response to acute stress by dobutamine. Furthermore, the absence of miR-22 sensitized mice to cardiac decompensation and left ventricular dilation after long-term stimulation by pressure overload. Calcium transient analysis revealed reduced sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ load in association with repressed sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase activity in mutant myocytes. Genetic ablation of miR-22 also led to a decrease in cardiac expression levels for Serca2a and muscle-restricted genes encoding proteins in the vicinity of the cardiac Z disk/titin cytoskeleton. These phenotypes were attributed in part to inappropriate repression of serum response factor activity in stressed hearts. Global analysis revealed increased expression of the transcriptional/translational repressor purine-rich element binding protein B, a highly conserved miR-22 target implicated in the negative control of muscle expression. Conclusion— These data indicate that miR-22 functions as an integrator of Ca2+ homeostasis and myofibrillar protein content during stress in the heart and shed light on the mechanisms that enhance propensity toward heart failure.

Kraken: a set of tools for quality control and analysis of high-throughput sequence data.

New sequencing technologies pose significant challenges in terms of data complexity and magnitude. It is essential that efficient software is developed with performance that scales with this growth in sequence information. Here we present a comprehensive and integrated set of tools for the analysis of data from large scale sequencing experiments. It supports adapter detection and removal, demultiplexing of barcodes, paired-end data, a range of read architectures and the efficient removal of sequence redundancy. Sequences can be trimmed and filtered based on length, quality and complexity. Quality control plots track sequence length, composition and summary statistics with respect to genomic annotation. Several use cases have been integrated into a single streamlined pipeline, including both mRNA and small RNA sequencing experiments. This pipeline interfaces with existing tools for genomic mapping and differential expression analysis.

Using MCL to extract clusters from networks.

MCL is a general purpose cluster algorithm for both weighted and unweighted networks. The algorithm utilises network topology as well as edge weights, is highly scalable and has been applied in a wide variety of bioinformatic methods. In this chapter, we give protocols and case studies for clustering of networks derived from, respectively, protein sequence similarities and gene expression profile correlations.

Depletion of HPV16 early genes induces autophagy and senescence in a cervical carcinogenesis model, regardless of viral physical state

In cervical carcinomas, high‐risk human papillomavirus (HR‐HPV) may be integrated into host chromosomes or remain extra‐chromosomal (episomal). We used the W12 cervical keratinocyte model to investigate the effects of HPV16 early gene depletion on in vitro cervical carcinogenesis pathways, particularly effects shared by cells with episomal versus integrated HPV16 DNA. Importantly, we were able to study the specific cellular consequences of viral gene depletion by using short interfering RNAs known not to cause phenotypic or transcriptional off‐target effects in keratinocytes. We found that while cervical neoplastic progression in vitro was characterized by dynamic changes in HPV16 transcript levels, viral early gene expression was required for cell survival at all stages of carcinogenesis, regardless of viral physical state, levels of early gene expression or histology in organotypic tissue culture. Moreover, HPV16 early gene depletion induced changes in host gene expression that were common to both episome‐containing and integrant‐containing cells. In particular, we observed up‐regulation of autophagy genes, associated with enrichment of senescence and innate immune‐response pathways, including the senescence‐associated secretory phenotype (SASP). In keeping with these observations, HPV16 early gene depletion induced autophagy in both episome‐containing and integrant‐containing W12 cells, as evidenced by the appearance of autophagosomes, punctate expression of the autophagy marker LC3, conversion of LC3B‐I to LC3B‐II, and reduced levels of the autophagy substrate p62. Consistent with the reported association between autophagy and senescence pathways, HPV16 early gene depletion induced expression of the senescence marker beta‐galactosidase and increased secretion of the SASP‐related protein IGFBP3. Together, these data indicate that depleting HR‐HPV early genes would be of potential therapeutic benefit in all cervical carcinogenesis pathways, regardless of viral physical state. In addition, the senescence/SASP response associated with autophagy induction may promote beneficial immune effects in bystander cells.

Messenger RNA and microRNA profiling during early mouse EB formation.

Embryonic stem (ES) cells can be induced to differentiate into embryoid bodies (EBs) in a synchronised manner when plated at a fixed density in hanging drops. This differentiation procedure mimics post-implantation development in mouse embryos and also serves as the starting point of protocols used in differentiation of stem cells into various lineages. Currently, little is known about the potential influence of microRNAs (miRNAs) on mRNA expression patterns during EB formation. We have measured mRNA and miRNA expression in developing EBs plated in hanging drops until day 3, when discrete structural changes occur involving their differentiation into three germ layers. We observe significant alterations in mRNA and miRNA expression profiles during this early developmental time frame, in particular of genes involved in germ layer formation, stem cell pluripotency and nervous system development. Computational target prediction using Pictar, TargetScan and miRBase Targets reveals an enrichment of binding sites corresponding to differentially and highly expressed miRNAs in stem cell pluripotency genes and a neuroectodermal marker, Nes. We also find that members of let-7 family are significantly down-regulated at day 3 and the corresponding up-regulated genes are enriched in let-7 seed sequences. These results depict how miRNA expression changes may affect the expression of mRNAs involved in EB formation on a genome-wide scale. Understanding the regulatory effects of miRNAs during EB formation may enable more efficient derivation of different cell types in culture.